"Ahah! There it is!" Penelope scratched her forehead as she scanned the building across the intersection. Claire de Luna. It was the eponymous bookstore owned by her close friend. Located on the corner of a not-very-busy-at-all intersection far away from most mid-town shopping destinations. It was a cute spot if quaint things barely holding together at the seams was your idea of cute. Penelope looked at the shop's sign once again, its name emblazoned across the white wood in fading, sparkly-gold paint. She shook her head; it was still the worst name for a business she had ever heard, but she could never quite convince Luna of that.

Before crossing one of the least-busy intersections in town, Penelope uncharacteristically looked both ways. Surprisingly, a car actually did pass as Penelope glanced down each direction. She saw the distant lights of the laundromat almost an entire block away to the west. That was the only business within sight of Claire de Luna, the rest of the buildings which dotted this neighbourhood were mostly apartments of varying quality. Unfortunately, Luna didn't quite have the savings to buy prime real estate, so she had to make do with a less expensive rental which was a decent walk from mid-town's main shopping district.

Welp, I hope business was alright while I was gone… Penelope thought to herself as she crossed the intersection and arrived at the front step up to the entrance of the bookstore. Only the glass pane in the peeling white-painted door was still boarded up, which was certainly an improvement over when they first returned to Sunset City a month ago. At least any passersby could view the inside of the shop now from the newly replaced window to the left. Penelope hadn't been back to Claire de Luna since the first day they returned because everything had been so busy, but it was nice to see the small repairs needed coming along. She finally gripped the handle of the door. Her bushy tail twitched, and her insides tingled with a warm sense of nostalgia as she pulled back to allow herself entrance into one of her favourite places in the world.

The door rattled as Penelope's pull was met with stiff resistance from an unbudging lock. Huh, that's odd… Luna should have been expecting me, we talked about it over the phone a few days ago. Penelope sighed and produced a keychain from her backpack. After moving her fingers past her house key and a Chao keyring, she found the old, rusty key for Claire de Luna and unlocked the door. She finally swung it open as the cute little bells Luna hung from it gave their chime and her nostrils filled with that ever-so-slightly musty, yet familiar scent she had grown to love. "Ahh, it's good to be back…"

Or was it? Things were mostly normal at first, despite the complete lack of Luna being around. The slightly-faded green floral wallpaper was what it always looked like, the cash register and drab curtains covering the entryway towards the back of the shop were neatly in place as usual, it felt like not much had changed despite what had happened in the past half a year. Penelope ran her finger along one of the dusty bookshelves, noticing a lack of merchandise. Sure, Claire de Luna wasn't the most popular bookstore in town by a longshot, but it did decently enough to remain open for a year prior to the war… even if things were a struggle at times. Was business really good last week or did something else happen? Penelope thought to herself as she leaned her back against an uncovered section of the wall and took in the sight of the main room once more.

It was then Penelope noticed the lights weren't actually on. There was still a decent amount of light in the early evening sun to illuminate most of the room through the large glass pane out front, and Penelope had been so wrapped up in her nostalgia she completely missed the fact. Oh boy, Luna… are you even home right now? Penelope, slightly disappointed at the absence of the typically warm greeting from her good friend, decided it was time to soldier on behind the curtains and see if she could hopefully catch Luna making dinner in the loft where her cramped apartment was.

Penelope slowly slid the drab curtain aside and uncovered the entrance to the back of the shop. If the main room was a little musty and dusty, this room was mustier and dustier. Penelope found the pull-chain for the overhead light in the center of the dark room, and the old incandescent bulb flickered dimly to life, revealing a complete lack of product at all in the storage area. It was an ominous mirror of what Penelope found in the main room of Claire de Luna. What happened to all of the books?

"…Luna?" Penelope called out from the nearly empty storage room as she looked towards the stairs in the corner leading up to the loft. Oddly, she hadn't heard any pots or pans crashing around in the kitchen to suggest she was making dinner in anticipation for her. Didn't really matter to her much, they could always just get takeout from Mehburger or something. Penelope reached the bottom of the stairs and slowly started to climb while calling out to Luna again. "Hey… Luna? I'm here! Can I come up?" Still, no response came from her friend. At this point, Penelope was convinced Luna had left to get groceries or go to the laundromat down the street. So, she climbed, not expecting to see Luna until later.

As Penelope ascended the staircase, she glanced around the loft through the openings of the handrail surrounding it. The light on the corner table next to the futon in the living area was still on, giving some illumination to the tight space. The exposed red brick walls gave it a temporary, yet oddly cozy feeling that was quite charming to her. The ceiling followed the roofline of the building itself, with both sides slanting up to a point with an old ceiling fan hanging from the center turning lazily. On the other end of the room from the living area was a small kitchenette which featured various dirty dishes strewn about, and a short hallway with several doors and a closet. Down the hall was Luna's bedroom, a small bathroom, and a small office which Luna used to look after the business. Oddly, Penelope noticed a dim light coming from the office, and the door cracked slightly. This suggested to her that Luna perhaps forgot to turn off her computer before she left.

Penelope flipped on the overhead light of the ceiling fan and stepped into the room from the stairs. She noticed one of her duffel bags placed underneath the coffee table in the middle of the living area, so her mom had indeed come by on her way to work this morning to drop off some clothes for the weekend. That was nice, but it meant Luna should have known no matter what Penelope was coming shortly after six o'clock… she should have been ready for her. Penelope's mind wandered in the silence of the room. I hope it wasn't an emergency, whatever it was. It was then when the unexpected happened, a groan of frustration and defeat coming from the office down the hall. Penelope almost jumped, and she promptly hurried along to investigate. "Luna? Is that you?" She called out one last time before reaching the door. No response yet again, so Penelope promptly flung open the door, and what she saw in the office made her cover her mouth and gasp in horror…

"Luna! What the heck happened to you?!" Strewn across the floor of the office was an innumerable quantity of spent tissues littering the floor, interspersed with a collection of various empty single-serving tubs of ice cream; dirty spoons still residing inside. The stench was awful and almost made Penelope gag. There, in the swivel chair beside the computer desk, sat Luna. She was hunched over her keyboard wearing a dirty pair of sweatpants and an old white shirt, almost in a catatonic state. The wolf's normally bright blonde fur was disheveled, and she looked like she hadn't stepped foot outside Claire de Luna all week. Penelope reached her friend and slowly wrapped her arms around her, helping her to sit back up in her chair and face her.

Luna's normally bright green eyes were soulless, and they barely acknowledged the existence of Penelope, who was trying her best to reach her. Large grey bags collected under them which signified to Penelope that her friend had lost a ton of sleep over… something. Penelope glanced over at Luna's computer screen, which showed an online banking website returning a negative balance in some account. Additionally, various incomplete payment forms were haphazardly left out in piles across the empty space of the desk. Penelope felt a deep pit growing in her stomach. She and Luna had talked over the phone on many occasions this past month, but Luna had always assured her everything was going alright. Now she could tell that clearly it wasn't.

Penelope cupped Luna's blank face in her hands and made her look directly into her eyes. "Oh, no… Luna, what happened? You look absolutely terrible! Is everything ok? Please, talk to me..." Luna yet again seemed to lack enough mental energy to respond to her friend's worried pleas. However, she was able to mutter out an incoherent string of sounds. "D…duh…d…dol… Dol…. Eee…" Penelope couldn't make out any sort of meaning in what Luna was trying to tell her in the time being, so she relented. She took Luna's arm and slung it over her shoulder, gently lifting her beyond-exhausted friend to her feet and helping her across the hall to the bathroom. As they left the office, Luna looked back to the desk in her zombie-like state and Penelope, noticing a hint of desperation in her, turned her away once again. "Hey, Luna. Please. let's get you cleaned up and into bed. We'll talk about this in the morning, ok?" Luna relented and lazily nodded her head, letting Penelope run her a bath.

The TV in the living area of the loft flickered as Penelope stared on at the rerun marathon of her favourite sitcom, The Fe-Lineup. She had put Luna to bed a few hours ago at this point, and the spent Mehburger wrappers from the takeout she ordered still resided upon the coffee table. The laugh-track rolled as Gerome delivered his iconic catchphrase: "That'sa loada catnip!" Penelope couldn't bring herself to laugh, whether it was from missing her brother so intensely or the alarming scene she saw in the office, it just didn't feel appropriate. She glanced out the small, circular window to the right looking out to the alleyway behind the shop. The moonlight gleamed down through a crack in the clouds, reminding Penelope she needed to get to bed herself. Claire de Luna was open in the mornings on Saturday for a few hours, so someone needed to cover for Luna, who was definitely going to be sleeping in.

Penelope reached across the futon to grab the remote and gave it a flip in her hand before pressing the power button, finally shutting Gerome up. She stood up and collected her garbage from the coffee table, passing her duffel bag of clothes by as she tossed the wrappers into the trash and arrived at the closet in the hallway. Please still be here… Penelope thought to herself as she rummaged through the pile on the bottom of the closet. After digging for a bit, she found it. An old plastic shopping bag labeled 'Penelope' in black permanent marker. She dumped its contents onto the futon and out fell a pile of red cotton. Yes! Penelope thought to herself excitedly.

Penelope held up the garment in front of her, it was a very old, very scratchy, but undeniably very cozy red onesie, with many buttons up the front and a somewhat embarrassing trapdoor in the back. It was a "gift" from Luna she got a long time ago when she stayed over for the first time. Penelope had forgotten to bring anything to sleep in, and Luna begrudgingly gave this to her from her personal wardrobe to sleep in. It's been kept in the bag, set aside for Penelope to use ever since when she comes to visit or help out and needs to sleep at the store. Penelope excitedly buttoned herself into the onesie and blushed a little as her bushy tail wiggled in joy. Sure, the onesie was a little old-fashioned and might be embarrassing if anyone but Luna saw her wearing it, but it was undoubtedly the coziest and most comfortable she had felt in months since the city was evacuated during the war.

Returning to the futon, Penelope gave a big yawn and a stretch as she slowly lowered herself down under a thin blanket she placed out for herself earlier. Despite whatever was going on with Luna, and she was certainly determined to find out tomorrow, being up here was the most wholeheartedly relaxed Penelope had felt in ages. Slowly drifting off under the moonlight peeking through the window, Penelope slept soundly and comfortably for the first time in a while. The nightmares of her blunders in the volleyball tournament and even her lost brother were absent from her mind.